After a couple of failed attempts of getting tiny wiggly baby toes into cute little baby shoes, I started to wonder if tiny shoes were even necessary for an infant.

Shoes were not on my baby registry or on my list of must-have items before my baby arrived, but I somehow still ended up with a few pairs.  They are kind of irresistible and cute for people who like to buy presents for new babies.  I get it.  And, I also felt bad for not putting them on my babies.

I was able to re-gift a few of the brand new pairs of infant shoes that I received and I secretly wonder what happened to those shoes. Were they worn?  Were re-gifted?

How did I keep my babies feet warm and covered without putting tiny shoes on them?  As newborns, their outfits mostly consisted of convenient one-piece pajamas which kept their feet covered and warm.  When they wore something that exposed their toes, I put little socks on their feet, which usually fell off immediately.  When they became mobile, my babies seemed to love bare feet. They helped them get around more easily and socks and shoes only seemed to get in their way. When I took them outside for a walk in the stroller on a cool day, I put blankets over their feet and if I put them in the swing at the park on a cold day, I used slipper socks. I also started using baby moccasins and loved how easy they were to put on and keep on.

In my opinion, shoes are not necessary for babies until they start walking–and many orthopedic experts agree that barefoot is best for babies’ development. In fact, I even waited until they were almost confident walkers before adding shoes into the game of walking.  They seemed to grip the floor better with bare feet and it was one less thing to trip over. I also found it very confusing to figure out what size baby shoes worked for my babies.

Sarah Cole is a stay at home mom and a freelance writer of two busy toddlers who both learned to walk before they were a year old.